


Anathema

by DymaxionChronofile



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-09
Updated: 2014-03-09
Packaged: 2018-01-15 05:10:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1292581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DymaxionChronofile/pseuds/DymaxionChronofile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the island town of Semont, Christopher and Droite lived peaceful lives with their families. Droite was the one who was always so desperate to leave, to explore, while Chris always just wanted to stay at home. Their goals and dreams were different, but their fates would not be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anathema

**Author's Note:**

> So! This has been an idea of mine for a while. I know it's overdone but I like fantasy AUs, eheh. ;; Anyway, I'm done. Please enjoy.

On a medium-sized island to the north of the mainland laid a town by the name of Semont, surrounded by tall mountains and thick forests. Even for people who had been born there, it was sometimes easy to get lost. To foreigners, it was almost impossible to find their way around the complicated island town. It was nothing short of a maze.  
  
The island was known for its strong magic-users, which was a slowly depleting class, along with its excellent export of exotic and rare fish. It would be sold off to the mainland, since the fish that lived close to Semont could not be found by the mainland or by other island towns, for that matter.  
  
Other than trading, the island kept itself to itself. They never adopted the lifestyle that the other islands or the mainland had. Life was simple. This was most likely the reason the island held so many strong magic-users; without any technological distractions to hold them back, anything was possible.  
  
Of course, not everyone on the island was a magic-user; there were a few other classes, such as swordfighters or barbarians, but the majority of them had come from the mainland. There were a few foreigners who came from other islands as well, though. Not only that, but not all of the natives were purely magic-users. Some of them had decided to dual-class, a skill which is easier to perfect on an island than it is on the mainland. And a select few did not use magic at all. But that was uncommon.  
  
The island was peaceful and quiet but, most of all, it was usually quite cold due to its position on the map. This meant most crops would not be able to grow until the warmer three months of summer. At any other point of the year, crops could grow with the aid of botany magic, but the magic needed had to be precise. If it wasn't, there would be a higher chance of diseased crops.  
  
This kind of magic was difficult to master. Which was why, for the most part, the islanders lived off of fish instead of crops. It was safer and easier to sustain than the crops, at least. But those who used botany magic were quite high on the social ladder compared to some other kinds.  
  
The town took up a little more than half of the island's space, with the rest of it being taken up by mountains and forests. Houses were mostly made from stone to prevent the decay of walls with wooden doors, leaving the town looking grey and plain on most days. But during festivals, the town would be set alight with a wide array of beautiful, vibrant colours and festive lights to celebrate occasions. But normally, the town was plain.  
  
The houses in the town were quite close together and most of them looked the same. The same plan was used to build most of the houses in the town. This made the same-looking pathways through the town narrow, and it made it quite easy for a visitor to get lost inside of the town. The town centre was the only place that did not look the same as the rest of the town.  
  
The town centre held shops; armoury and weaponry, food, inns, and a tavern, which mainly saw business during festivals or during the end of the week. As well as this, there was the town hall, where most decisions to do with the town were made and where the mayor resided. That was the largest building in the town, and the easiest to recognise.  
  
Right in the centre stood a large statue. It was of a woman in robes; her face was almost completely covered. Her tale was old, and only a couple of people in the town were old enough to be alive when she came through the town. Her legacy was one of a hero, who saved the island from destruction. She soon disappeared, and a statue was raised in her honour.  
  
Semont was home to Byron Arclight, a researcher in the magical field, and his three sons; Christopher, Thomas and Mihael. Mihael had a certain fondness for botany magic, and enjoyed practicing on whatever plants may be alive. It didn't always go as he planned, but he was trying. He was constantly practicing and reading, and in his spare time, he was attempting to perfect a tea garden.  
  
Thomas, on the other hand, was a dual-classing magic swordsman. His focus was on mastering the use of fire, along with his sword. He would practice his magic quite frequently, and he would practice sword-fighting as often as he possibly could. It wasn't too often, since it meant Chris or Byron would need to accompany him.  
   
But of course, the oldest brother had to be different. Chris had no interest in the practice of anything just yet. He enjoyed the theory of the different classes. In particular, he enjoyed reading about archery, about magic - he didn't pick a focus between black or white magic - and about those who had successfully melded both together. It was such a fascinating topic.  
  
His only practical was a test of his memory. As he was making his first bow, he muttered to himself the different spells that he had learnt in the book and their uses. By the time he had finished, he had whittled himself a somewhat shabby longbow - the whittling had gone wrong and sanding it down didn't exactly go to plan - and a handful of arrows to go along with them. But it didn't matter; he wasn't focused on the bow itself. He wouldn't use it. As far as Chris was concerned, he would never practice.  
  
But there were many times that Chris' childhood friend, Droite, would try to make him practice with her in the forest. Not necessarily with that bow - Lord knows that wouldn't have gone particularly well - but he couldn't just sit indoors all day and study. What was the point to only read about something without trying it out? Of course she understood the importance of study, but there had to be a balance. He would end up being unfit if he kept this up, which would not be good for his mind.  
  
Chris wasn't the type to fight; he was an academic, not a fighter. He was the type to stand back when physical fights occurred. He kept to himself for the most part, and sometimes it was a wonder how he even managed to have one friend. It was probably because Droite did not deal with anyone's stupidity, and she was a lot kinder than she could have sometimes acted.  
  
They had been friends since childhood; at the time, Chris was completely alone. He kept to himself at all times, his nose buried deeply in a book. Initially as a sign of pity, Droite befriended the lonely, quiet boy. Everyone needed someone, after all, even if it was just one person. The friendship grew beyond superficial pity and reached genuine affection for Droite. Once they had hit the teenage years, they were both completely inseparable. It made them both happy.  
  
Life was simple for Chris at home. While his father was gone, Chris looked after his brothers and made sure that, when they practiced their skills, it was safe. Or in Thomas' case, not indoors. It was for the good of both the family and for the good of the house. He had ruined far too much furniture and put too many holes in the wall to practice in the house.  
  
Chris would often study books when he had the time between looking after his brothers or at the weekend, absorbing their knowledge. He knew enough about the other skills and classes, but never delved all that deeply into them. They simply did not interest him as much as archery and magic.  
  
By the time his father got home, dinner would be on the table, with Mihael and Thomas insisting that they had helped. Usually, they would only peel something or lay the plates and cutlery on the table, but it was enough for Chris. That was about all of the help he had expected from them. He didn't really mind cooking for them, since they seemed to enjoy it.  
  
After the younger brothers had gone to bed, Chris would stay up for a little while longer to talk to his father. His father would tell him about the latest non-classified projects, their progress, and possible plans for future research. Chris would listen attentively to his father. He was deeply interested in his father's work.  
  
Chris wanted to stay on the island for the rest of his life, carrying on his father's work. He had no interest in pursuing any other skill, not really. He was a scholar, an academic, and nothing else. This caused a slight problem with his friendship with Droite, and it was a problem both of them decided to shove to the back of their minds until the time came.  
  
Droite wanted to go to the mainland. She wanted to travel, to not be constricted by the island any more. This was the main reason she trained so hard and so often; she had no idea what was waiting for her in the mainland. She was born on the island, and natives who had never left the island had no idea of the outside world.  
  
In fact, most natives never left the island. Only researchers and the mayor left, and even then, it was rare. That was the point of the island - to get away from the busyness and stress of the mainland. But not every single native wanted that life. Not really.  
  
Before the two of them decided to simply ignore it, Droite did ask Chris to come with her several times. It would have been good for him to explore for a little while before tying himself down to the island for the rest of his life. But he refused; he had no interest in the outside world. He was happy in his home. He didn't know and didn't want to know what was out there, and Chris knew he was better off not knowing.  
  
Droite lived with her mother and her younger sister, and lived quite contently with them. She got along well with her family, and they didn't really fight. She truly did adore her family, and she was very close to her sister. But she still wanted to be free, and she was desperate to leave home. Her mother had always said Droite was like her father, who left for adventure a few years ago. But unlike him, she would return.  
  
Perhaps Chris was just more sensible. Or perhaps he was just being too safe. It didn't matter to him; he wasn't going to leave the island anyway. He liked the idea of safety, and the idea of not getting himself into trouble. Even at home, it was rare that he would ever get in trouble. He was a little bit of a golden boy, which caused a little strain on his relationship with his younger brother, Thomas.  
  
Well, that wasn't the only thing that caused a strain. The two of them were complete opposites and, the older they grew, the more evident this gap was between them, and it totally broke Chris' heart. But it wasn't like Thomas wanted to try to rebuild their relationship.  
  
Thomas was too focused on their differences to try, it seemed. But there was one thing Thomas liked to tease him about; Chris' non-existent crush on his best friend. Clearly, as an attractive female, Chris would have to like her. The constant commentary drove the oldest brother insane.  
  
"She's like my sister. I would never have feelings for her," Chris would say, shaking his head.  
  
Though there had been times where he had thought about it and considered it. The thought was a little bit appealing, and Chris had to admit it. It would have never happened, anyway. And he wasn't about to tell Thomas that; he would have never let it go. Chris wanted to avoid idiotic commentary from his brother as much as physically possible.  
  
"You're being a baby. She's into you, and you're not getting in there," Thomas would scoff.  
  
Chris would have rather passed up on this imaginary opportunity, really, but Thomas wasn't going to have any of it. Droite was attractive, and Chris was absolutely insane for constantly saying no.  
  
"I'm not attracted to her," he would insist each and every single time.  
"So you like guys. Fine, that's cool too," Thomas would shrug, before turning away.  
"That's not—"  
"Hey, it's whatever. Not my body," Thomas would say. And then, as always, he would leave Chris with a final wave.  
  
Chris knew Thomas was only trying to get to him, but by all that was holy, it really did get to him. He knew _exactly_ what to say to push his older brother's buttons.  
  
It was worse when Droite was spending some time at the Arclights' home. Thomas would shoot stupid glances and grins at Chris, trying to encourage him to 'get his game on', in a lack of other way to put it. One day, Chris would have seriously hurt his brother for the stupid comments that came out of his mouth. Thankfully, either Droite never noticed, or she just chose to ignore it. He was lucky that his best friend was patient enough.  
  
His relationship with Mihael, at least, was kind. It was built on mutual trust and mutual respect, and a quiet understanding. They would sometimes read together, and Mihael would proudly show his older brother what he was capable of. Mihael was a lot more fun for Chris to spend time with. It was certainly a lot less hectic than spending some time with Thomas. There was no denying that.  
  
Ignoring some of the more annoying things about it, Chris was largely happy at home. He didn't really want to leave. His safety was his happiness.


End file.
